Children's Shadow Games
by Mudora
Summary: Focusing on the events after Colin's rescue from the Bulbins, the Ordonian children discover that our hero isn't as invincible as they thought. A drabble and character exploration. Some Link and Midna.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything Zelda related, and I don't own any of the characters therein. Zelda belongs to Nintendo respectfully.

**Author's Note: **Sorry I haven't made an updtae on the present. School's out, but writers block kind of set it, and I'm trying to just write to see if I can get my grove back. We'll see I guess.

As for the story itself, it's a little bit of an exert, if you will, on the events after Colin's rescue. It's not my take, really, more just of way to stretch my bones and fingers. If you like it, great. If not, I don't blame you. This isn't the GREATEST writing I've ever done anyway. I'm reserving that for other things ;)

Without further ado, here's the story. Feel free to leave a review, as they are much appreciated.

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><p><strong>Children's Shadow Games<strong>

**A One shot by Mudora**

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><p>Trying not to cry, Beth decided, was as hard as trying not to make it rain. It was a useless attempt to even try to hold it back and from the look of Renado's face, it didn't seem like it was something looked down upon, even after what she had done.<p>

It wasn't so much as what she had done however. More on the lines of what she _hadn't _done that made this entire situation seem like a never ending lecture from her absent parents. Never before had she felt so stupid in her life.

She had just _stood _there. Just stood in the middle of the street as she saw the eyes of evil coming straight for her, either ready to kidnap her - or worse - kill her.

But the worst part of all was that Colin had to save her.

The wimpy, quiet, easily ignored Colin pushed her out of the way just in time to get snatched up by the boar riding monster - and to make things even better, Link came riding in on Epona like the knight Beth always imagined him to be. The look on his face was complete anger and hostility at the kidnapper, and Beth had to wonder if he would have looked like that if she had been snatched up. But the thought was quickly dashed to pieces with the guilt she felt after the dust had settled. Even after she had been so close to death, she couldn't stop thinking about herself - how she would benefit from this or that.

Colin, the kid that she always picked on _saved _her. And now he was somewhere out in the fields beyond the practical ghost town Kakakriko, with Link at his heels to bring him back. If she had just ran away like Talo had, nobody would be in this situation. Not to mention Link probably wouldn't be out there, risking his life for just one boy.

Of course, she didn't think Link viewed any of them as just a boy or girl that lived in his home village. But if not that, what did he view them as?

Regardless, he came all the way out here to save them... and Beth had gone and made it worse.

So she felt like her crying out of self pity was obligated, just this once. And she was grateful that Renado had enough of an understanding heart to sit with her and watch her ball her eyes out. What else was a thirteen year old girl to do as everyone waited for baited breath?

It had seemed like hours since Link had chased after Colin's captors... but Beth couldn't tell how much time had passed as their waiting continued, managing to dry her tears up. Ranado hugged her lightly, patting her on the back.

"What is done, is done..." he said simply in his deep but soft voice, "And none of this is your fault Beth. No matter what you think, it isn't your fault."

Beth shook her head, "But... but I didn't move out of the way. It would have been easy. But I just stood there like a... like a stupid goat!"

Renado gave her a stern face, "I have faith that Colin will be alright Beth. You need to have that faith too. "

The Ordonian girl merely sniffed, wiping her nose out of nervous habit. Despite all her logic, the Elder was right. Crying over a mistake already made was probably not going to solve anything like it usually did with her parents. Her mother and father were pushovers that way... always comforting her and telling her that she hadn't done anything wrong - that she was the best little girl in the entire world.

Of course, being Kidnapped had changed a few things. Not just for her, but for all the children.

But through it all, Colin was the one that never lost hope. He somehow had this unwavering resolve that Link would come and save them... and he did. Somehow, he did. Beth couldn't understand how Colin had such undeniable reliance in her secret crush. With life before the kidnapping she had always called him childish and silly, even though she acted the same. Like she was trying too hard.

Everyone had to grow up sometime, Beth guessed. Perhaps this was the better time to do it.

"Hey!" a voice called from high above Beth and Renado, the voice echoing off the canyon walls as if it were being spoken through one of Mayor Bo's announcer things. Beth knew it had a name, but couldn't remember it at the moment...

Looking up, she could vaguely pinpoint a tiny Talo standing on top of the watch tower that climbed high above the town. The Ordinaian girl briefly wondered how Talo got up there, but her thoughts were drowned out by Talo's further yelling:

"Hey, you guys! I see Epona and Link! He's coming back! And..." He paused, probably turning to look again, "And he has Colin!"

Beth stood up immediately, her heart bouncing up into her throat. Renado stood up calmly, in stark contrast to the thirteen year old, and put a steady hand on Beth's shoulder. Her anxiety only went down by a fraction, but it was enough to make her stop wringing her hands in anticipation.

At Talo's call, Malo and Renado's daughter, Luda, came out of the Elde Inn with wide eyed looks of hope. The Kakariko girl ran up to Beth and patted her shoulder, much like her father had.

"Did we hear correctly? He is returning?"

Beth nodded, "That's what Talo says... I hardly think he could miss a Horse like Epona."

Malo snorted, a strange sound coming from a child his age, "He does have pretty good eyes."

Ignoring Malo, Beth turned around and waited with baited breath for the hoof beets of Epona. It wasn't long until the canyon walls began to echo a familiar sound - a galloping stride, soon to round the corner, revealing the source of Talo's excited yipping from up above. Indeed, Link held Colin in his arms. Colin didn't look conscious - his limbs were hopping up and down with Epona's movements, and Link looked like he was clutching onto the boy for dear life. To Beth, Link looked odd. Overall, he seemed... stiff and he was breathing through his nose harshly, as if he were sprinting. His horse looked a little panicked, eyes wide with worry for her rider.

Regardless of the mare's skittish state, Link managed to pull the reigns, stopping just in front of the Elde Inn. Talo had climbed down the ladders in time to meet up with them - Beth had no idea how he moved so fast - and soon a gathering formed around the victorious horse and rider, all asking loud questions about Colin's condition, whether he would pull through or not, and how Link had got him back.

But, instead of gladly telling them that Colin was okay and he undeniably conquered his foes, he motioned toward Renado to get closer. It looked like he was ready hand the boy over to the Village Elder.

Something wasn't right - and it had everything to do with Link's sudden pale color to his skin.

"Renado..." Link said, almost too quiet for Beth to hear, "Renado, I can't get down on my own."

The Elder looked at him with worry, and motioned for Luda to take Colin with gentle hands. When Renado turned to look back at Link, Beth only stared in shock as she saw something dark staining the front of his tunic. She wasn't the only one to notice, either. Luda had caught sight of it, as well as her father - but a tad late.

Shortly after his diminutive and vague request, Link started to slide off of his saddle with his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Renado was there just in time to catch him, albeit roughly, due to all of Link's equipment indisputably adding to his overall weight. The rest of the children were silent now, their once hopeful and eager faces now darkening to worry and fear. Beth was no different, feeling her own expression fade away as much as the forest color on the front of Link's strange new tunic. It was a stab wound, and from the looks of things, it was bad. Good and deep.

Beth tried not to make her breath hitch in her throat at the site. Unlike her, Luda looked stern - not even a flinch from the blood.

"Luda... take Colin inside and meet me upstairs. Talo and Malo, make sure the boy is alirght. Beth -"

The Ordonian girl's head snapped up at the mentioning of her name, eyes widening slightly.

"You come with me." Renado finished.

Beth swallowed hard as the Elder darted towards the inn, Link in his arms. Without a peep, she followed.

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><p>Before Link had come to initially save them, Renado had asked Beth what she wanted to do when she was older. She was happy to reply since, when you reach the age of fourteen in Ordon, you start practicing and learning under an apprentice of some sort. She told Renado that she wanted to be a doctor or an attendant doctor. Mostly the later, since she liked the idea of actually taking care of someone. It was probably the only aspect about her she didn't find selfish or really revolving around her. She liked to make people feel better, and being a nurse like Uli back in Ordon was one of Beth's wishes.<p>

However, as Renado rushed Link upstairs to a more private area of the Elde inn, her feelings had wavered somewhat. Uli had only taught her small things, like cleaning a larger than normal cut, or treating sore muscles. Battle wounds were hardly anyone's forte, everyone in Ordon living simple lives - the worst injury that Beth had seen in her memory was probably when Fado had sprained his ankle trying to show a goat who its master was.

And besides that, Beth was only thirteen and not fourteen - Uli had only given her tidbits of knowledge, since Rusl's wife knew that she was interested. All she had ever done was bandage cuts and rub salve over her own burns - not this.

From upstairs, Beth heard Link make a rather unpleasant sound. He must have regained consciousness...

A hand pressed down on her shoulder and the Ordonian girl nearly leapt out of her skin, turning around to find Luda. She ignored Beth's jumpiness.

"Come on. Father needs us. It's best we don't keep him waiting." She said, trying to give the other girl an encouraging look. She patted Beth's shoulder again and shot up the stairs.

Reluctantly, Beth followed Luda up to a more private room - the candles were lit, and the window was closed. If it weren't for the multitude of candles, Beth knew she would have been standing in pitch black. The little flames gave an eerie light, and the sweat of Link's brow looked harsh and bright. Beth felt her heart beat quicken in nervousness.

Renado, noticing their arrival, looked at both of them in a stern manner, "I'm sorry that I'm asking for your help girls, but with everyone else in the village gone, I can't handle this kind of wound on my own."

Beth scrunched her nose, "What about Barns?"

The Elder rolled his eyes, "Barns is too much of a coward to even attempt anything like this. Not to mention... he's squeamish of blood."

Luda nodded with a wry look in here eye as if contemplating on a past memory. That was all Beth needed to know.

"In any case," Renado continued, "I need you both to remain calm while we do this. Your friend is seriously hurt, and we must take off his effects."

A weighted feeling was already falling into Beth's stomach, "Mr. Renado... is... is Link going to die?"

The Elder paused before answering with a slight rumbling to his voice.

"He will if we don't hurry."

The Ordonian girl took in a breath, and now the full feeling of anxiety and pressure was upon her. To her dismay, Luda looked absolutely normal - and it bothered Beth. How could anyone act normal around this? One of her childhood friends was dying... because of Colin... because of her.

The image of Link being invincible was a silly one, Beth thought. Regardless, she believed it blindly like the rest of the children - she thought nothing could touch him as a powerful sixteen year old. But that's what being a child was like - believing blindly... having faith.

"Girls. Help me remove his shirts." Renaldo suddenly said, bringing Beth's nervousness back to her attentions. Her gaze fell upon her suffering friend and she tried not to gulp out of fear. With Luda, she walked over to Link's side.

To Beth's surprise, Link was more or less awake and looking at her. Something different was in that gaze - something feral... but beyond that, she could still see the kindness and charity there. Desperation and pain too, a look the Ordonian girl was not familiar with. She didn't like it on him.

"Hey Beth..." he said quietly, his voice struggling to remain steady, "Glad you didn't get trampled."

Looking genuinely pleased that Beth was alive, the girl smiled a little and nodded, "How... how are you feeling?"

Link actually smiled at the question, "Can't lie to you there... not... not doing so great."

Then both of them started nodding in agreement - almost as if this was a normal conversation back in Ordon. Just like older times. Beth didn't know whether she wanted to hit him, or thank him. Link always made things easier. Even if it was just a reassuring smile.

"You should... probably do what he says," Link said, gesturing to Renado, "I can tell you where to unlace."

Beth gave a firm nod this time, as did Luda. Link gave a small smile to the girl as well.

Renado came over now, his look rather grim, "You're going to have to sit up for just a few minutes while we get all that equipment off. Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Link answered shortly, "Just get it off."

The Elder gently took his shoulders and lifted him up, Link wincing the entire way. It looked like he was putting all of his efforts into breathing, giving no hints that he was uncomfortable or going through excruciating pain. Whether it was because Luda and her were in the room, or his natural toughness, Beth couldn't tell.

Renado held Link up as the older Ordonian told Beth and Luda how his tunic came off. Getting the sword belt off was easy enough, but the tunic was this myriad of lacings and strings that made any article of woman's clothing seem simple. But with time not on their side, Beth and Luda hurried in getting the lacings undone, and exposed the chainmail underneath. How and where Link got the chainmail was a question for Beth to ask at another time, but getting it off was complicated. More so then the tunic. For one, it was heavy - heavier than it originally looked - and when they finally managed to undo the hooks that kept it in place, it was even harder getting it over Link's head. Beth wondered how he could even stand having something so heavy to run around in. He looked a little relieved with it going, though. But with the chainmail gone, Beth got a full glance at his white undershirt ; it was dirty, slightly damp with sweat, and the blood that she saw seeping onto his outer tunic was nothing compared to the stain that covered the bottom half of his shirt. It was more blood then Beth had ever seen in her life and her own blood froze at just how severe this was. She looked at Luda, who throughout this entire venture, remained calm and collected. With Luda's help, the managed to loosen the shirt, and got it off without too much of a hassle.

Beth tried not to notice how angry the wound looked as Renado set him down on his back again. Link looked a combination of relieved and stricken, his breathing coming out rather unstably. Without really knowing what to do, the Ordonian girl looked up to the Elder for further instruction. Luckily for her, he seemed ready to give exactly what she needed.

"Beth, go get hot water from the basin that's near the fire. Try not to tell Malo and Talo too many details."

She nodded, grateful for the chance to leave the room for just a few moments. Leaving while Renado was giving Luda her own instructions, Beth practically leapt down the stairs and entered the kitchens where the heated basin of water was kept.

However, she unlucky did not avoid Talo, who was putting hot water in a bowl - probably for Colin. He turned around in time to see her bounding down the stairs - She tried to hide her grimace. His face was a mixture of excited fear and worry. Beth wondered if Talo would ever act appropriately anywhere in his lifetime, but his mouth started to move and the Ordonain girl gritted her teeth.

"Beth!" He said, looking glad to see her for once. It was probably for Link's welfare, however. "Beth... is Link okay? Why did he pass out? And did you see that shield he had-!"

Beth tightened her lips, "Talo! Keep your voice down."

"But Beth!" The younger boy interjected, not adhering to the volume of his voice, "Link fell off his horse! What's wrong with him?"

"If you keep your voice down, I'll tell you!" She hissed back.

Talo's mouth immediately stopped moving, and he held the bowl of warm water like a statue. It was his 'best behavior' stance, and Beth knew that she had the boy's attention, more or less.

"Move so I can get a bowl of water, real quick..." Beth said, moving forward and grabbing one of the red clay bowls that occupied a counter next to the basin. She began to fill the bowl:

"Link is hurt pretty badly, Talo." She said to the younger boy, "We're going to do everything we can to make sure he's okay. You just stay down here and do your part in helping Colin get back to his feet, okay?"

Talo made a disgruntled noise, his face beginning to pout, "That's not fair. You said you were going to tell me-!"

"We don't have the time Talo!" Beth said in annoyance, the bowl now filled with warm water. She brought it out of the basin, and headed back for the stairs, "Renado or someone will fill you in later!"

She ignored Talo's disappointed frown as she ascended back up to the second floor. If the boy wasn't so young, Beth probably would have told him - but he had his own responsibilities. Colin needed to be taken care of too.

With a huff, she came back into the secluded room. Luda had gone off and taken bandages and a good set of needle and thread. She tried to ignore the later objects. Pointy things tended to make her uncomfortable, but if she wanted to be a nurse, she had to get used to the idea that bandages couldn't always work the way they should.

She set the warm bowl of water by Renado, and the Elder gave her a grateful nod as she stepped away. Link also gave her a indebted smile, but it looked heavy laden with discomfort. Next to her, Luda walked toward her father, handing him a rag that was in the materials she collected. The elder retained a stony quality to his features, his brow deep in thought - about what, Beth could only wonder at.

"Now, Link..." Renado said calmly, dipping the cloth into the warm water, "Just try to relax. It's going to be hard, but just try."

Link managed a nod, "Please just... just hurry."

When wet rag met ravaged skin, Link's head sunk into the pillows, trying with all of his might not to utter a peep. It was obvious to Beth that this was hurting the Goat Herder a lot, and she wondered why he didn't bother calling out or something. The sigh he let out was less than comforting - a moan mixed with a whimper that didn't sound right, coming from Link's mouth.

Needless to say, the next half hour was... stressful. Thankfully , Link had passed out sometime during the cleaning - but it didn't make the situation any less strenuous on the Elder and the two girls.

By the time Link was stitched up, Beth had seen her fair share and walked un easily down the stairs - Talo was there with Malo, looking worried.

"Is he okay?" Talo asked.

Beth merely ignored him, and walked outside.

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><p>Link had to admit, that seeing Midna's face was not exactly the most pleasant thing to wake up to - especially if it was hardly an inch away. He stifled a yelp, but couldn't prevent the reflexive jump as his eyes finally focused on the imp that hovered above his body. She looked pouty and livid.<p>

"You're an idiot." She said plainly. Her hands went on her hips, and she only seemed to float _closer _- and sense she had long past his general comfort zone, Link's head began to back up into the pillows behind him. Almost like sinking in quicksand.

"No..." Midna continued, "You're not just an idiot, you're a _stupid idiot_."

Link flatly stared up at her, "You're repeating yourself. Those words mean the same thing..."

"Then it magnifies how thoughtless you are."

Resisting the urge to glower at her, the Goat Herder made the effort at rolling his eyes instead, "What then, exactly, did you expect me to do? Let Colin get carried off again?"

She only sneered, her one eye getting dangerously close to his face once more, "Better that then impede our progress, goat boy."

"Our progress, meaning your progress."

"Precisely."

"I hate you."

And to Link's horror, she laughed. The high pitched giggle that always alerted her to when she was up to mischief. He hated that sound.

_And part of you likes it. _

Her giggling stopped and she hovered a little bit away from him now. She moved toward the window opening, which filtered in the light of the moon from outside, bathing her shadow form with more volume then during the day. She looked sinister.

"There you go using the 'h' word again. And here I thought we had moved past that."

"Hardly, " Link easily corrected, "Your heartless nature prevents me from breaking boundaries. Colin and those children are like family to me. I would have been an idiot _not _to go after Colin."

"I don't think you should be talking much. You are recovering after all."

He turned his head to the side, half of his vision deep in the pillows and the other half on dimming candles. He could still distinctly feel the wound in his gut pestering him.

"I can talk all I want - OW!"

"Whooops!" Midna said in her teasing voice, "Poked it too hard."

"What are you-!"

Link turned his head to find the imp lifting his borrowed shirt up, poking the bandages with a twisted curiosity. She smiled sheepishly up at him, almost like she accidently broke a jar.

"What's that? What hurts? Oh I know... it's your now wounded body screaming how brainless you are."

"As we have established."

She lowered the shirt down, covering Link back up to some form of decency, and she landed down gently on the mattress of the bed. Her face hadn't changed from when she poked him - a mild triumphant look.

" Regardless of your intelligence, you _are_ hurt... and therefore I shouldn't bother you."

"Thank you -"

"But I will anyway. You are part of my responsibility after all."

Link could feel his mood souring, "You're annoying me on purpose."

"Oh he finally catches on."

He could only respond with a growl, "One day Midna, when you're wounded and in a bed, I'll laugh at you the entire time. See how you like it then."

"You're too nice for that," the imp easily countered, "Besides. That won't ever happen because _you _take the brunt of all the damage anyway. It's in your nature as a man, and a wolf, and whatever else you are."

"What exactly is my nature?" Link asked tiredly.

"That you have to protect a girl. It's in almost every man's nature. So cute that you think like that, by the way."

He could feel a sigh coming on.

"Midna, you are undeniably a gem."

She gave him a look as if to say she had already known that pretty little fact. Sauntering closer to where his head lay, she sat down, her little legs dangling over the sides of the bed.

She looked at him again, "They said that you'll need three to four days to heal. We're leaving in two." Link took one of his hands and buried it in his face.

"...You honestly expect me to wrestle with Gorons when I am not at the peak of physical condition?"

"What?" Midna said, tilting her head, "I didn't hear you."

"Yes you did."

A smile spread across her face - the smile that Link learned to take as a warning sign.

"Wolf man, you'll be _fine_."

Link moved his hand down his face to rub some feeling back into it, making sure to close his eyes and breath out slowly, "That's what you said before we went into the forest temple. Look where that landed me. Nearly got me poisoned to death, and you floated there laughing and yelling at me like it was the best thing since sliced bread."

"Just to clarify..." Midna added, "I've never had bread before. So no, you having to go through that was not as good as sliced bread. I would say... it was as good as a sliced apple."

"We're getting off topic."

"There wasn't one."

The Goat Herder suddenly felt a pair of tiny hands grab the sides of his face, forcing his head to look at her. Her expression had lost all forms of harsh banter and was replaced by authoritative prowess that honestly scared the Ordonian.

"We leave in two days. You're lucky I'm giving you that much. I know you need to heal, but you know what else? Zant is still out there as we speak, and it's not like he's isn't going to notice the sudden decrease in Twilight infected Hyrule. If we don't act quickly, you can sure bet that he'll come back and put your 'family' in danger. Do I make myself clear?"

Link knew that Midna wasn't technically ordering him to do anything - more like prodding him with the consequences and baiting him with his friends being in peril. Much to his chagrin, it worked most of the time.

All the fight and sarcasm left him in that moment, suddenly feeling more tired than usual - the weight of the world was coming onto his shoulders again. For a moment, Midna seemed regretful, but only just so.

Wrenching his way out of Midna's grip, Link brought the covers up tighter around himself, and got into a position that was more or less comfortable.

Before he fell into the trusting arms of sleep, however, Link couldn't help but speak to her one last time.

"If something goes wrong, I'm blaming you."

Midna did not reply.

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><p><em>He howled at the moon and she patted his head. But her hands felt like the chain on his ankle. Her voice sounded like the conspiratorial whispers in the dark. Was she against him? Was she with him? <em>

"Talo, I don't think we should do this."

The aforementioned Ordonian looked at the recovering Colin, his mouth shrinking into an unimpressed frown.

"I just want to see if he's okay. That's it! You wanted to before." Talo hissed, "Besides he's been talking in his sleep. I can hear it from downstairs."

"Talo..." Colin pleaded, "I want to see if he's okay, but not if it disturbs him."

"And that's just it! We won't. We'll just take a peek inside, and then go back downstairs. The end."

The younger boy gave Talo a scrutinizing stare, but he let it go. As long as they wouldn't wake him...

_He ached inside. Ached like the earth moving under the mountain. He just wanted to lay down for once, but she cracked the whip and he had to follow. He could move the stars, move the sky - but only if she wanted it done. _

The door to Link's room was closed, but a dim amount of moon light had peaked out under the door crack. If the older Ordonian had been talking in his sleep, he certainly wasn't now.

"Talo... I don't hear anything." Colin whispered.

"I still want to see him... come on Colin, just a peek."

The younger boy frowned at Talo again, "Why can't you take Beth and Mr. Renado's word for it? I don't need to peek into Link's room to see if he's okay..."

_The Green Lady kissed his forehead and touched his face, her own features forever locked in eternal gratitude. She was a soldier, a lover, a mother, a child, a sister. Her greatness overpowered him so and broke his chains. With another kiss on the top of his head, she let him go. _

"I don't care what Renado or Beth has to say. Not even Luda. I want to see it with my own eyes, because that's how I believe things." Talo whispered angrily back to Colin, fiddling with the door handle.

The son of Rusl didn't reply. Talo had a point, but Colin didn't like it.

"I hope that you can just take someone's word for it. You didn't believe me when Link said he'd come rescue us. You didn't think it would happen, but it did."

This time, Talo was the silent one. He continued fiddling with the door handle anyway.

_For a long time he couldn't find his voice, as he stumbled into the arms of an ethereal being. With hair like fire and skin that made the night make sense. She embraced him - her form towering above his stocky one. He was confused because he wasn't like her, but that fact didn't seem to matter the longer he stayed with her. _

Talo opened the door slowly, the hinges slightly creaking due to their age and lack of care. It seemed louder than normal, sending both boys into a fit of unnecessary panic that eventually just shut them both up as they saw Link sleeping on the bed and looking pleasantly unaware of the boy's entrance.

"See, Talo. He looks fine. He's just sleeping, like what we should be doing."

Colin's observation was certainly right. He didn't seem like anything was troubling him either. He was pleasantly sleeping. With the image firmly planted in his mind, Talo turned around to leave.

"There." He whispered to Colin, "My curiosity is over. I now know that he's alright... I guess."

The younger boy rolled his eyes, "Of course he's alright. He's Link. How could he not be? Link will always be okay."

Talo gave him a doubtful look, "...He didn't look okay when he fell off the horse."

_He thought he hated her. He thought he knew her, but he had been wrong - but so was she in her assumption that he would obey her forever. Her smile made him smile and everything was right in the world. _

_ "Midna." _

Colin turned around, "I think he mumbled something... did you hear it?"

Talo nodded, "Yeah... I did. What about it?"

"I thought he said someone's name."

The older boy furrowed his brow, "Really? I thought he said mutton."

"I don't think that's what he said."

The boys lingered at the door way, pressing their hands to one ear to see if he would mumble the name again.

But Link was silent.

"Well, I think he said mutton-"

A breath of air fell on the back of Talo's neck - a crawling and warm breath that lingered on his skin. He felt the hairs of his neck stand on end. He briefly looked to the right, and Colin was standing there as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

As Talo stiffened, he heard a voice quietly say...

"He whispered my name."

_"Midna..." he said again, and then she was gone. _

Talo ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, not bothering with the door, Colin nipping at his heels, whispering what in the world was the matter. But Talo didn't care until he got back to the room that Colin and himself shared, cradled by the soft blankets that he felt so guarded by.

When Colin asked him what was the matter once more, Talo told him to shut up and go to sleep. He needed the rest anyway.

Midna couldn't help but laugh as she played with the sleeping Hero's hair.


End file.
